Ignorant Historian

It’s now been a week since I’ve been laid off. Though the last month or so has been particularly emotional time for me, I can’t say that I’ve found unemployment itself much to be emotional about. At least not at this point.

But I think I’ve also been helped through this time of uncertainty by knowing where I can find certainty. Immersing myself in Scripture has been incredibly helpful in reminding myself of the truths about what really is important.

Like most (if not all) Americans, I struggle with trusting in money for security. But what a foolish, flimsy thing to trust in! You’d think the stock market would have taught us that.

For me, I also tend to trust in my own abilities. I have been blessed with my natural abilities and with the education and opportunities I’ve been given, but ultimately these don’t amount to much. If and when I get a job, it may be humanly because of these things, but ultimately, it’ll be in God’s providence.

While I’ll continue to struggle with placing my trust in the wrong place, I choose to hope in the Lord. Not because I want Him to give me what I want (though, obviously, that is something I have and will continue to struggle with), but because I want to want Him alone. I believe all else is rubbish compared to Him, though I don’t always act like I believe that.

I choose to hope in God.

The next selection the Faith and Fiction Roundtable was the science fiction book Canticle for Liebowitz by Walter M. Miller, Jr. The book is in 3 parts, each part being 600 years further in the future than the last. The first section takes place 600 years from now, with some sort of nuclear holocaust happening in our time. Canticle takes place in a Catholic monastery built with the desire to preserve Western scientific knowledge as much as possible through the new dark age.

The setting of Canticle for Liebowitz had me thinking a lot about the place of the Church (as a whole, not specifically the Catholic Church) in changing times. The members of the monastery in this book were much more concerned with preserving their sacred texts than in saving the people, many of whom were suffering greatly due to the consequences of scientific advancement. The Church—or as much as we  are shown in the book—seems to have no answer for this suffering.

So what should be the Church’s answer in troubling times? While we no longer have the cloud of the Cold War over our heads as it was when this book was written, we still live in a time of uncertainty. The amount of physical destruction I’ve seen with my own eyes this spring has sobered me and taking away the joy I once had in watching storm clouds rolling in.

I believe that the Church–and thus individual Christians—has no greater task in times like these than to point people to Christ. While there is a place for meeting physical needs—a practicality that should not be overlooked—this can’t be the only outreach to hurting people. At the same time, preaching to spiritual needs while disregarding physical needs will fall on deaf ears. Both must go hand in hand.

But the chief task of both word and action is pointing to the hope found in Christ. There is great peace to be found at the foot of the Cross, and we do others a disservice when we downplay it.

Other Faith and Fiction Roundtable Participants:

Amy
Brooks
Carrie
Florinda
Hannah
Heather
Julie
Liz
Nicole
Sherry
Thomas
Tina

While we celebrate Christ’s resurrection today especially, it’s something to remember year round.  If Christ didn’t rise from the dead, we have no hope!

“Now if Christ is preached, that He has been raised from the dead, how do some among you say that there is no resurrection of the dead?  But if there is no resurrection of the dead, not even Christ has been raised;  and if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is vain, your faith also is vain.  Moreover we are even found to be false witnesses of God, because we testified against God that He raised Christ, whom He did not raise, if in fact the dead are not raised.  For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised;  and if Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless; you are still in your sins.  Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished.  If we have hoped in Christ in this life only, we are of all men most to be pitied.” – 1 Corinthians 15:12-19

Praise God, He is Risen!

I’m tired of going to bed alone.

I don’t mean that in a sexual sense, just that singleness seems synonymous with loneliness the most at bedtime.  I can fill the rest of my life with fulfilling relationships, but this is one area where that just won’t do.

The other night was one of those nights where I just can’t get myself to go to bed because it’s hard to remove all the distractions I use to keep from remembering I’m alone.  These nights aren’t that frequent, but when they happen, they’re overwhelming.

But Saturday I found hope in this:  These nights are numbered.  Of course, I’d like to think that they’re numbered because I’ll soon have a partner in life, but even if that’s not true (or never will be true), they are still numbered as my days on this earth are thankfully numbered.  One day, God will save me from this world (via His returning or my death) and there will be no more lonely nights, no more tears.

“And He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away.” – Revelation 21:4, NASU

If you are a follower of Christ, you have the same hope.  Whatever misery you know or trial you are facing, these days are numbered.  That’s not the only hope…we also know that God will give us the grace to handle whatever situation we find ourselves in.  But sometimes, knowing that this too shall pass is a greater comfort.

If you’re not a believer in Jesus Christ, you are right to be hopeless.  I don’t mean that there isn’t any hope–God has/is offering you the same hope in Jesus Christ–but if you refuse this hope, life really is hopeless.

These nights will continue to be hard, but I’ll take heart in remembering that they are numbered.

Photo by Gord McKenna

Thanks for all your suggestions yesterday.  I’ve taken them to heart, and hope to show you a little more of my day-to-day life tomorrow.  Stay tuned!

From time to time, I discuss controversial subjects, the most common of which is abortion.  In these, I’m quick to vilify this abhorent practice and point out what I see as the religious, moral, social, humanitary, and logical reasons against it.  I don’t wish to undermine or backtrack from any of these posts, but there is something that I’ve missed sharing.

I believe there is hope for those who have received abortions, counseled others to receive abortions, and performed abortions, just as there is hope for all sinners, not the least of whom is me.

Without the grace of God, I would be unable to write this post today.  He not only sustains me, provides me with intelligence and a voice, and gave me life, he has given me new life that I may serve Him…when all I had done for Him is spit in His face.

Abortion hurts.  The mother is left not only with physical wounds, but emotional ones.  No matter how much a woman may not want to be or feel she is qualified to be a mother, she probably recognizes on some level a desire to nurture.  Maybe she even wanted this child, and felt pressured into giving him up.  Perhaps there are some women who can have an abortion and truly treat it like any other procedure, but I imagine that’s a rare thing.  Besides, numbness is an emotional reaction, too.

So, today, I’m praying especially for those who have been down that dark road.  Remember, God still loves you and wants to comfort you.  Please feel free to email me if you want to talk about this subject: ronnica (at) ignoranthistorian (dot) com.

“But God demonstrates His own love for us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” – Romans 5:8, NASU

I’m not really in the mood to blog about something serious, because the seriousness that is going through my mind isn’t bloggable. I’m not in the mood to blog about something silly, because then I feel like I’m not doing justice to that seriousness.

I saw a license plate one time that said, “Those who believe in the Lord will not be disappointed.” That’s not quite true. Those who hope in the Lord will not be disappointed in Him, but this world has its disappointments even for the most faithful followers of Christ. Being a Christian doesn’t guarantee us happy lives, but it does gurantee a hope that puts everything else in perspective.

Believers in Jesus Christ aren’t promised that their lives will be easy. Think of Job, the apostle Paul, or even Jesus Himself. They suffered for their faith in the Lord yet they still praised God in the midst of it.

After losing all his possessions and his children, Job said, “The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away. Blessed be the name of the LORD.” (Job 1:21b, NASU)

Paul said, “But whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ. More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I might gain Christ,” (Philippians 3:7-8 NASU)

Even our Savior suffered loss. The Scripture tells us that “Although [Jesus] existed in the form of God, [he] did not regard equality with God as something to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.” (Philippians 2:6-8 NASU)

This is my prayer for those who are going through difficult times:

“Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD
And whose trust is the LORD.
For he will be like a tree planted by the water,
That extends its roots by a stream
And will not fear when the heat comes;
But its leaves will be green,
And it will not be anxious in the year of drought
Nor cease to yield fruit.” (Jeremiah 17:7-8 NASU)

In spite of the gloomy weather, the impending crowning of Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, and the prospect of tomorrow’s New Testament test, I’m feeling upbeat. You know why? Because none of this caught God off guard. He’s not thinking, “Uh oh! What do I do now?” What allows me to be filled with joy in this world of shifting sand is the constancy of the Creator who is ever faithful and ever true to His words that He’s so generously recorded for us in the Bible. Instead of looking at the waves and the wind, I need to focus on the steady arm of our Heavenly Father and the marvelous work done by His Son, Jesus Christ, on the cross.

What pessimism those who don’t have an all powerful, all good God must have! Where lies their hope? In themselves? I know I frequently let myself down. In humanity? One look at the many genocides and wars of the 2oth century would cloud your outlook at any hope of an utopian society. In money? One tumultuous day on the stock market or one thief could take that all away. In a loved one? They may be here today, and gone tomorrow.

No, these things provide little realistic hope that tomorrow will be better than today, or that today will even be better than yesterday. Instead, let me join with Habakkuk and say,

Though the earthly things I counted on do not come to pass,
Though my money and resources are taken away,
Though the people around me fail me,
And though the political future looks dim,
“Yet I will exult in the LORD,
I will rejoice in the God of my salvation.
The Lord GOD is my strength,
And He has made my feet like hinds’ feet,
And make me walk on my high places.”
-Habakkuk 3:18-19 NAS-U

Thank you for allowing me to candidly speak from my heart.